Looping machine



Y J. K. MCCUJI'CHEN LOOPING MACHINE Filed Nov. 24, 1944 July 8, 1947.

4 Sheets-Shet 2 July 8, 1947. K; MCCUTCHEN 2,423,608

LOOPING MACHINE Filed Nov. 24, 19 44 4 Sheets-Sheet s 20 We dlci m July8, 1 947.

J. K. MCCUTCHEN 2,423,608

LOOPING MACHINE Filed Nov. 24, 1944 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented July 8,1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

This invention relates to a sewing or embroidering machine, and moreespecially to a standard commercial sewing machine redesigned andequipped with means whereby not only loops can be formed, but said loopscan be elongated and then freed to form very elongated uncut loops toproduce what is known at shag rugs, bedspreads and the like.

It is an object of this invention to provide a sewing machine having aplurality of needles and a plurality of loopers for passing between theneedles and the strands carried thereby and above the eyes of theneedles for engaging the strands carried by the needles and formingloops as the needles move upwardly, said loopers moving downwardly anappreciable distance to elongate the loops and having additional loopersfor passing into the loops and transferring them from the first loopersand having additional release means adapted to pass into the loops whilethey are held on the second set of loopers and to remove the loops fromthe second set of loopers and to free the same so that they can becarried along by the fabric as it advances through the machine.

It is another object of this invention to provide a sewing machinehaving means for forming loops, means for elongating the loops, andmeans for freeing the elongated loops from the elongating means.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objectswill appear as the description proceeds, and when taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a front elevationof my improved sewing machine showing portions cut away for sake ofclearness;

Figure 2 is a bottom plan view of the machine;

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially along'a line3-3 in Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view taken transversely across thethroat plate substantially along the line 44 in Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 3, but showing the needle andloopers in a different position from that shown in Figure 3;

Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 4, but showing the parts in theposition which they occupy in Figure 5.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, the numeral l indicates theconventional bed plate of a sewing machine having an upstanding portionI I and a horizontal portion 12 terminating in a head I3 which houses avertically reciprocating needle bar l4 and a presser bar l having apresser member I6 secured on its lower end with a presser foot llpivotally secured as at l8 to the lower end of the member, It. Thepresser foot is shown in raised? position in all of the drawings.

The needle bar 54 has secured on its lower end a transversely disposedbar 2!! having a plurality of needles 2! the-rein, and near the lowerend of each ofthese needles, there is an eye 22 through which a strandof yarn 23 is led, the needles being adapted to pierce a base fabric 24to form loops 25 on the lower side thereof.

The head I?! has a bar 23 on which a plurality of tension devices 27 areprovided through which the strands of yarn pass on their way to theneedles. The strands also pass through suitable holes 28 in atransversely disposed bar 29 secured on the front side of the head [3.

Mounted in the upper portion of the upstanding portion 5 l and extendingall the way through the horizontal portion l2 for operating the needlebar 1 3 and the presser bar l5 in a conventional manner, is a main driveshaft 30 which has all hand wheel 35 fixed thereon and also has a pulley32 thereon adapted to receive a belt, not shown, which belt is alsomounted on a suitable belt pulley, not shown, on a suitable motor, notshown, for driving the sewing machine.

The main drive shaft 30 has an eccentric 33 fixed thereon which fitsinto the forked upper end 34 of a connecting rod 35. This connecting rodhas pivotally secured thereto as at 33 one end of a link 37 whose otherend is pivo-tally secured as at 38 to the free end of an arm 39 which ispivoted on a stud 48 on the interior of the uprising portion I l andthis arrangement not only gives an up and down motion to the connectingrod 35, but also a lateral swinging motion. The lower end of connectingrod 35 is pivotally connected to the lower end of an arm 4! adjustablysecured on rear feed shaft 4.2 which is mounted for oscillation at itsends on pivot screws 43 and 44.

Also fixed on the drive shaft 30 is an eccentric 45 which is surroundedby a circular portion 46 on the upper end of a connecting rod 41 whoselower end is pivotally connected to the outer free end of a lever 48adjustably secured on front feed dog shaft 50 mounted for oscillation atits ends in pivot screws 5! and 52. This front feed dog shaft 50 hasarms 53 adjustably secured thereon, each of which has a pin 54 in itsfree end adapted to have sliding movement in a fork 55 on the front endof the feed dog frame 56.

The frame 56 has a plurality of upwardly projecting portions 51 whichare notched on their upper surfaces in a conventional manner forpenetrating slots in a throat plate 58 mounted on the bed plate of themachine, said throat plate also having openings through which theneedles 2| pass on their downward movement after penetrating the fabric24 passing therethrough.

The rear feed dog shaft 42 has a pair of upstanding arms 58a thereonwhich are pivotally secured at their upper ends to the rear ends of thefeed dog frame 56. The above described mechanism is largelyconventional, and it is with this conventional mechanism that myimproved mechanism is designed to cooperate.

Also fixed on shaft 39 is an eccentric 64 which has a circular portion29a of a connecting rod 49 surrounding same and the lower end of thisconnecting rod is pivotally secured to the free end of a lever notshown. This lever which is not shown is adjust-ably connected in thesame manner as shown for the other levers on a looper shaft 59 mountedat its end in suitable pivot screws, not shown, but which are the sameas other pivot screws described, said pivot screws being disposed indownwardly projecting brackets Bi] and 6! extending downwardly from thebed plate of the machine while the pivot screws for the front and rearfeed dog shafts i2 and 50 are mounted in one end of the bracket 68 whileat the other end they are mounted in the downwardly projecting portion62 extending from the bed plate of the machine. The looper shaft 59 hasa plurality of blocks 83 which are split and which are clampingly heldon the looper shaft 59 by means of a suitable screw 63a. blocks 63 arelooper bills 65 which are adapted, upon oscillation of shaft 59, to passbetween the needle and the strand carried thereby and above the eye ofthe needle for forming a loop when the needle moves upwardly.

Also mounted immediately below the first looper shaft 59 and somedistance therebelow is a second looper shaft 86 "which is mounted onpivot screws 5! and 68 in downwardly extending brackets all and B i, andthis second looper shaft has an arm H thereon to the free end of whichis pivoted downwardly extending connecting rod 12 which projectsupwardly and has a rounded portionat its upper end mounted on aneccentric on the main drive shaft 36 to give proper oscillation to thesecond looper shaft 86. This second looper shaft has a plurality ofmembers 15 adjustably secured thereon by means of a set screw 16 andadjustably mounted in the members 15 by means of a set screw 1'! is alooper member 18 having a hook it on it free end which is adapted topass into the loops 25 when the looper bills 65 are in lowermostposition.

Also mounted in the machine is a loop shedding shaft 80 which is mountedon pivot screws 8| and 82 in the downwardly projecting portions 60 and6!, and this shaft 80 has a lever 83 adjustably secured thereon, thefree end of which is pivotally connected, to connecting rod 86 whichextends upwardly and has a circular portion 85 at the top whichsurrounds a suitable eccentric on the main drive shaft 36 for impartingreciprocatory motion to the connecting rod 84 which in turn, impartsoscillatory motion to the loop shedding shaft 80. This loop sheddingshaft 80 has a plurality of plate members 86 thereon which areclampingly secured on the shaft 80 by means of a set screw 81 and inthese plate members is adjustably mounted a plurality of transfer rods88 by means of a set screw 89, and the upper ends of these rods havewelded, or otherwise secured thereto, a transfer bill $8 for taking theloops off the looper members 19 and as the shaft 80 oscil- Fixed onthese lates in a clockwise manner in Figures 3 and 5, these hook membersmove out of the loops 25 and release them to be carried along with thebase fabric 24 during operation of the machine.

M ethod) of operation The method of operation of the machine is asfollows:

As the needles move downwardly and slightly before they have reachedlowermost position, the loopers 65 on the first looper shaft 59 aredisposed above and in front of the needle eyes and as the needles movefarther downwardly, the loopers B5 begin moving toward the needles andjust before the needles start their upward movement, the hooks 65a onthe loopers 65 pass above the eyes of the needles and between theneedles and the strands carried thereby and move downwardly andrearwardly as the needles move upwardly until the hooks 65a on the endsof the first loopers 65 are slightly below and rearwardly of the hooks19 on the second loopers 18 which at that time occupy a positionforwardly of the hooks 65a on the first loopers 65, and just before theneedles reach uppermost position, the first loopers start movingupwardly and the second looper hooks 79 start moving downwardly andrearwardly which transfers the loops from the first loopers to thesecond loopers. As the first loopers move upwardly and the secondloopers move downwardly, the loop transfer members 90, which at thistime are disposed forwardly of the hooks on the second loopers, begin tomove rearwardly just as the first loopers reach uppermost position andat the same time the second loopers start moving forwardly whichtransfers the loops on the second loopers onto the loop transfer member90 which move rearwardly as the needles descend again while the firstloopers start moving downwardly, and such cycle is repeated upon each upand down movement of the needles.

In the drawings and specification, there has the scope of the inventionbeing defined in the claims.

I claim:

1. In a sewing machine having a vertically reciprocating needle forcarrying a strand through a fabric, a swingable means for enteringbetween the needle and a strand carried thereby for forming a loop andfor moving the strand further downwardly to elongate the loop, a secondswingable means for entering the loop while it is held by the firstswingable means for transferrin the loop from the first swingable meansto the second swingable means and further moving the yarn downwardly tofurther elongate the loop, and a third swingable means for entering theloop while it is held on the second swingable means for transferring theloop from the second swingable means to the third swingable means andmoving it rearwardly, the last swingable means, upon its forwardmovement, being adapted to pass out of the loop to free the same to becarried along by the fabric.

2. In 'a sewing machine having a vertically reciprocating needle forcarrying a strand through a fabric, means for entering between theneedle and a strand carried thereby for forming a loop and for movingthe strand further downwardly to elongate the loop, a second means forentering the loop while it is held by the first means for transferringthe loop from the first means to the second means and further moving theyarn downwardly to further elongate the loop, and a third means forentering the loop while it is held on the second means for transferringthe loop from the second means to the third means and moving itrearwardly, the last means, upon it forward movement, being adapted topass out of the loop to free the same to be carried along by the fabric.

3. In a sewing machine having a vertically reciprocating needle forpiercing a fabric to carry a strand through the fabric, a swingable armhaving a hook on its end adapted to be passed between the needle and thestrand carried thereby and to form a loop as the needle moves upwardlyand to move further downwardly to elongate the loop, a. second swingablearm adapted to pass into the loop while it is held on the firstswingable member and to further elongate the loop while moving itslowermost portion downwardly while the first swingable arm movesupwardly out of the loop, a third swingable arm adapted to enter theloop while it is held on the second swingable member and to hold theloop while the second swingable member moves out of the loop.

4. In a sewing machine having a vertically reciprocating needle providedwith a plurality of needles for penetrating a fabric and carrying astrand through the fabric, an oscillatable shaft having a plurality ofhook members thereon for 6 passing between the needles and the strandscarried thereby for forming loops and moving the loops furtherdownwardly to elongate the same, a second oscillatable shaft having aplurality of hooks thereon for engaging the loops while they are held inlowermost position by the first named hooks and allowing the first namedhooks to move out of the loops, a third oscillatable shaft having aplurality of hook members thereon for passing into the loops while theyare held in elongated position by the second hook members to hold theloops while the second hook members move out of the loops to normalposition, the last named hook members being adapted to move forwardlyout of the loops to release the same to be carried along by the fabric.

JOSEPH K. McCUTCHEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

